


Unexpected New Year's Surprises

by afteriwake



Category: Bleach
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-15
Updated: 2012-07-15
Packaged: 2017-11-10 01:24:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/460680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What a wonderful way to begin a new year.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unexpected New Year's Surprises

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [A Sudden Change In Sobriety And Perspective](https://archiveofourown.org/works/460679) by [afteriwake](https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake). 



Kyoraku sat down at his desk. It was evening, close to eight. He had told Nanao to meet him there, away from the New Year’s festivities, for a brief meeting. He had not expected his darling wife to have been there working before him while he got together the surprise that had not been left in the office by others. But that was one of the reasons he loved her so much, because she was a hard worker. She had, since his return from the Winter War, inspired him to do more, and when she had seen his efforts she applauded them, and affection and then love had blossomed. It had been four years of marriage, almost to the day, and he had never been happier.

“I hope you did not think I intended you to do office work all evening,” he replied with a chuckle and an easy grin.

“There was no office work to be done,” she said, looking at him suspiciously. “The papers on my desk had mysteriously gone over to your desk, all filled out and ready for delivery. I’m filling out our New Year’s cards.”

“I can’t believe we put it off so late,” he said, leaning back in the chair.

“We have had other things to think about,” she replied, setting down her pen and pausing to rub her swollen belly. “This baby is coming sometime soon, I can tell.”

“And that is why I had you come here for your surprise,” he said with a smile. “You had wondered what to do about the baby after you got off maternity leave. Well, wonder no longer!” He got up, and her eyes followed him as he went to the corner of the room. There were two quilts there covering large objects, and he lifted them off to reveal a beautiful crib and a handsome rocking chair. “These are from the Captains, as a gift to you and our daughter, to make things easier when you are done recovering.”

“I had suspected as much,” she said with a warm smile. “Lieutenant Kuchiki said the Captains were planning a surprise. She let slip it was to make my life easier, so I assumed it was something for the office.” Then she chuckled. “Plus, curiosity got the better of me so I peeked.”

“Ah, Nanao,” he said with a smile. “And I have one of my own, other than the paperwork I spent today doing. I have all the favorite foods you have been craving from the world of the living.”

Her eyes went wide, and she involuntarily licked her lips. “Even the green chiles, like the ones Sado-san had from Mexico?”

“Even those. Ichigo brought them back with him on his last visit, but I found someone in the Rukongai who was a cook in the world of the living, and he makes the other foods. He sells them to those who need food. I may have just brought him an entirely new customer base, when I told Rukia-san, Rangiku-san and Ichigo-san the last time he visited. Last week he went with me and sampled everything I bought today, just to make sure it was top quality.”

“Oh, Shunsui, you are too good to me,” she replied, a warm smile on her face. A pleasant side effect of their marriage was that while she may appear stern and such to the outside world, in private he got more smiles, more laughter. He got to see a side of her that most of Soul Society had simply refused to believe existed, though since her pregnancy many others had caught smiles when she was not aware. Many expected the arrival of her first child to bring about personality changes. Maybe it would, maybe it wouldn’t, but the Nanao he loved so much would still be there for him away from everyone else.

He brought over the food, packed in a basket, and handed her a jar with the diced chiles and a spoon. “How you can like something that exotic I will never know,” he said.

“Food with a little bite is good,” she replied, opening the jar and taking out a spoonful. She took a bite, shutting her eyes, and for a moment a look of pure bliss crossed her face before her eyes flew open and she gasped. “I believe the baby wants to come out tonight, Shunsui,” she said.

He looked down, and indeed, there was a pool of water near her feet. He took the jar from her hands, closed it and set it down, then helped her to her feet. “We must get you to the Fourth Division quickly.”

“We do not need to rush,” she said. “I have not felt any contractions yet,” she said. She bundled together the New Year’s cards and put them in the basket with her food. “You might as well bring it all; Captain Unohana said it could take hours for her to be born, and I have not eaten much tonight.”

“I will work on the rest of the cards,” he said with a smile, grabbing the basket and helping his wife from around her desk.

“No, I will. Your handwriting is atrocious,” she said with a grimace. “I believe that was my first contraction.”

“Then we shall have to keep track.” He got her to the door and paused. “It is a long walk to the healing center. Are you sure…?”

“So long as I am not having contractions more than every five minutes I should be fine. In fact, among people in the living world it is customary for mothers at the beginning of labor to walk to ease the pain.”

“Very well,” he replied, leaving it up to his wife. If it got bad he would simply pick her up and carry her and leave the basket to be picked up later. They began the long walk, with him speaking in calm tones about random things and her inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly, pausing every seven or eight minutes for a contraction. By the time they got her into a bed in the healing center a half hour later her contractions were coming every five minutes.

“This daughter of yours is very eager to see the world,” Unohana said kindly when she got a good look at Nanao. “You’re completely effaced and about seven centimeters dilated. Do you need anything for the pain?”

“No, it is tolerable,” Nanao said through gritted teeth. The death grip she had on Kyoraku’s hand told another story, however. When he yelped slightly, she got a guilty look on her face. “All right, perhaps something would be nice.”

Unohana nodded to Isane, who went to the small table by Nanao’s bedside and pulled out a syringe. Nanao sat up and leaned forward while Isane injected the syringe into her lower back. After ten minutes, Nanao began to relax. “Is that better?”

“Much,” Nanao said, her voice full of relief. She settled back into the bed, and while the contractions were coming faster, they did not hurt as much. Unohana and Isane left them, and they waited. That was what it boiled down to now, a waiting game, though Unohana had said with as fast as the contractions were coming it would not be a long wait.

Near midnight Nanao got a sudden urge to push. She looked at her dozing husband and nudged him. It had no effect. She nudged him again, harder this time, and he stirred but did not awaken. Finally she shoved him off her bed and he awoke with a start. “Yes, Nanao-chan.”

“I feel the need to push,” she said.

His eyes widened and he hopped up, stuck his head out into the hallway and told the closest person to get Unohana, that his wife wanted to push. He hurried off, and within moments Unohana and Isane arrived. Unohana looked at Nanao under the sheet, and then lifted her head out to nod to Isane, who pushed a chair towards her. “I see the top of her head,” Unohana said. “When I count to three, push. One…two…three!”

Nanao pushed, closing her eyes and grimacing. It hurt, even with the medication having numbed the lower half of her body. “Aaah!” she screamed.

“Very good,” Unohana said, looking up. “One more push should do it. On three again. One…two…three!”

Nanao pushed one more time and suddenly a baby’s wail could be heard. Unohana gasped, and Nanao froze. “Is something wrong?” she asked worriedly.

“Oh, nothing. Your beautiful _son_ is perfectly fine,” she said with a chuckle, taking the sponge Isane handed her and cleaning the little boy up a bit before wrapping him in the blanket she handed her next.

“ _Son_?!?” Kyoraku and Nanao chorused, looking at each other in disbelief.

“I should have had a second look before we confirmed the gender of your child,” Unohana said, standing up and handing the boy to Isane, who gave him to his mother. Nanao looked down at him in wonder.

“We had everything set up for a girl,” Kyoraku said. He reached over and ran a finger down his son’s cheek. “Do we even have a name for him?”

Nanao stared at her child in wonder. “We could name him Jushiro, after Captain Ukitake,” she said quietly.

Kyoraku thought, then shook his head. “While Ukitake would be flattered, I think it would be best to pick something without a legacy for him to live up to.”

“Perhaps you are right,” she said thoughtfully. “Though some legacies are not bad.” She paused. “How about…Kei?”

“I like that name,” he said with a smile. “Little Kei, who has his father’s face and his mother’s eyes.”

“Since it means lucky, that’s an exceptionally appropriate name,” Isane said. “He was born at midnight on the first day of the new year.”

“Really?” Kyoraku said. Then he leaned over and kissed his wife softly. “Happy New Year, Nanao.”

“Happy New Year, Shunsui,” she said warmly. “And Happy New Year to you too, Kei.” And as such, Kyoraku decided, this was to be his best New Year’s Day ever.


End file.
